Crystal Clear
by Awkward Dork
Summary: AU. Time spent in crystal stasis varies. Hope's finally grasped that he's been crystallized and is doing his best to escape to the real world. Lightning, however, concludes that she must have died after the fall of Cocoon and settles into the dreamlike realm. Trapped in an emotional chain of memories, Lightning might just be the one who needs a savior this time around. Eventual H/L


Disclaimer: I hate writing these but point is: I'm not claiming to own anything here except for my plot and the original ideas I choose to include. All rights belong to Square Enix and this is meant to apply to all chapters of this story.

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Author's Note: Hello, fellow fanfiction readers! My name's Tina and I've been thinking of a concept for this story since March. However, I didn't write this until the end of May. Since then, I've decided to instead focus on my original work instead. So...this has been sitting around for a few weeks and I felt like I should just post it anyway even though it makes me cringe a little. Ahh, it's just not as fantastic as I want it to be. But yeah, just a starting point..and anyway, I'm definitely not guaranteeing this will be finished. Still, I would like to get a start on it!

**Please read this, if nothing else: The majority of this first chapter will be recapping on most of the ending of the book, but please bear with me. It's to set up the story and the end I have here is quite different from the original. Please don't think I'm just summarizing the ending of the game... My summary should indicate otherwise! Thanks!**

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Special thanks to **H-thar** for a lot of help with brainstorming and improving on some of my ideas. I'd have been a lot more lost without the help she provided. She has an insane brain... and I shudder thinking what could happen to the world if she ever became evil :P! Anyway, the idea for this story actually came from Chapter 17 in her story, "Believe in Yesterday" as well! Her work is wonderful and I'd highly recommend it.

I'd also like to thank **DragonGirl323** because her fic "And the Void Stares Back" is the one that actually got me into this fandom. First story I clicked on absentmindedly one day, and I was literally telling myself, "If the first story I click on isn't good, I'm ditching this fandom." And, well, here I am now :). Be sure to check out her stories too!

Finally, I just wanted to say... I THINK YOU ARE ALL AMAZING AND IF ANY OF YOU WOULD EVER LIKE TO CONTACT ME JUST ASK BECAUSE INTERNET FRIENDS ARE COOL :D. YEAH. Caps are cool, too. Haha!

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PROLOGUE:

Rise and Fall

Thinking back to the last battles with Barthandelus and Orphan, I felt confused. I knew what happened, but I...I didn't really understand. There we were at Orphan's Cradle. Me, Light, Vanille, Sazh, Snow, and Fang. Things were definitely not going as planned, but we were all right. We defeated Barthandelus without too much difficulty, but then he used some sort of dark spell on us that shocked and weakened us. Orphan had awakened around that time, too. I fell into crumpled heap on the cold floor listening to him tell us how men were different from fal'Cie. Telling us about how we dreamed and aspired. How we achieve the impossible through willpower and have potential to do much, while fal'Cie are created for only one purpose, and how that apparently was why they made l'Cie of men. To attain that sort of power through us.

That hateful voice made me sick, nauseous. The fact that I was weakened and more sensitive to everything made it worse. Healing spells could only do so much, and I was too weak to use them now. They closed up our wounds, but they didn't do much for the mind or anything at all to clean up the blood that was splattered over our clothing. The stench of it was overwhelming in this state and so were the frigidness of the floor and the feeling of physical numbness. But through that all, I was also angry. Maybe even angrier than I ever was at Snow, or my dad for the past few years.

Vanille was being tortured in an effort to force her into becoming Ragnarok. None of us could really do anything to stop it. Well, until Fang chose to take her place, and then threatened to end her misery if it would mean protecting her family.

I couldn't comprehend. We had to be in this together. My blood ran cold then and I could barely stand, still weak from the attack, but I found the strength just like everyone else. Just like Light, who stood first and protected Vanille's left side next to me. I brought up the right, extending my arm to defend her as well, but it was useless. Fang fought us all off.

After, I felt myself go somewhere even colder and darker, just thinking about everything that had happened up until then, and then...then it was like I had this "glimpse of the future," as Snow put it. And it was so happy, so light. I loved it. I wanted it to be real with every fiber of my being. We needed that sort of future, after all the pain we had lived through until that point. We deserved better than this. We needed a new sort of world. And so did everyone else.

"If we have the power to destroy Cocoon, then we have the power to save it. You say you want your day of wrath, do ya? Well it's coming right up!" I declared, anger rushing through me from head to toe. Those were my final words before the battle.

"We live to make the impossible possible!" Just as fearless and determined as always, Lightning pointed her gunblade at Orphan. "_That_ is our Focus!" were her last words before we attacked and defeated Orphan. I had steeled myself inside, strengthened by what she said. We could succeed, and we did.

Once the fight was over, chaos erupted. The lights started going out in Cocoon, making the night even darker, and glass started breaking, causing clouds of dust to rise into the air. And then we were suddenly floating over Eden, carried along by some unknown force. We were weightless, and almost completely at the mercy of the force.

Light was the first to react, as usual. After gauging the situation, she extended a hand outward, reaching for us. "Stay together!" she said with conviction.

Responding immediately, Sazh urged, "Hey, grab my hand!" Concern was written all over his face.

"Okay!" I answered, my voice high and tight. Quickly, I grabbed his rough hand like he told me to and then I proceeded to take Light's. I was troubled by what was happening but I felt safer with Light and our friends by my side. Light almost always knew what to do and she could probably figure out a way to save us. She was the one who taught me to fight and watched my back when it was just the two of us advancing toward Palumpolum. She had been there to help, even though I was holding her back for a while. It felt like an eternity ago, but I would never forget that.

Interrupting my thoughts, Snow shouted, "Fang, Vanille!" He thrusted a black-gloved hand to something below us, clearly bothered by what he was seeing.

Shaking my head clear, I looked for the two, finding them still and with their hands joined. They looked...almost like they were going to perform some sort of ritual or spell. Something...out of the ordinary. Too soon, we were floating farther and farther away from them. And I watched their figures become smaller and smaller, faster and faster.

In that second, something in me changed, or snapped. I couldn't be sure, but it was a rush of emotion that I'd never felt before in my life. Watching them slip from our fingertips made me feel trapped. Caged. For the entirety of our lives, we had been under the control of the fal'Cie. Like...like puppets, forced to do what the puppetmaster desired. Having so little control always made me hopeless and I'd always considered myself a victim of fate. But that was beginning to change ever since our ragtag party of six got together. We were defiers of fate.

It didn't make sense to me, though. After all that, all our crazy misadventures, I still felt helpless in that second. Fang and Vanille, whatever they were doing, might not come back. We had to stay together, didn't we? I wasn't going to let this stand any longer. Not after all that happened.

And, I just knew I had to become even stronger. I had to pay Light back, had to pay them all back. I couldn't just sit back and watch anymore. I had to do something. I had to take the spotlight of the stage, instead of sitting idle in the audience. I let Mom take charge before, too many times. Even with Dad, my own father. She always wanted to protect me, didn't want me to hurt. She always said, "Moms are tough!" and just...smiled, like everything would be okay even if nothing was. Somehow, she thought she was invincible whenever it came down to defending me. There was never any other option or alternative to her. It's why she volunteered to help NORA when we were in Bodhum. She just had to play hero for me. As long as I would be safe, little else mattered. I didn't want her to, but I...I didn't say anything. I didn't know how. And I watched her die after that. I just couldn't let that happen again.

"What?" I finally breathed, feeling like someone had just kicked me in the gut. Something fluttered in my chest and I felt my jaw drop, my face contorting into one of shock. Looking from Vanille and Fang down there to all their faces in disbelief: Snow's, Sazh's, and Light's, I found new resolve. "I can't watch this anymore! We can't just let them go! They're our friends. They're our family!"

Ripping my hands free, I felt myself being whipped backward behind everyone. I raised my arms protectively as I tumbled through the air until finally I stopped. I tried swimming through the air back toward them, but it was no good; I barely moved a few inches. But then an idea struck. I wriggled around, summoned forth all the magic to my fingers, and let it loose in a steady stream of fire, propelling myself toward my friends.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this!" Averting my eyes from Light, I twisted my head for a few seconds to make sure I was going in the right direction. I was directly disobeying her and I was just asking to get hurt—from Light and whatever could possibly happen—but...everyone in this party was my family.

"Hope, don't try to be the hero!" Snow yelled, clenching his free hand into a tight fist.

I almost laughed, but the weight of the matter at hand stopped me. I was being like Snow, wasn't I? Maybe a bit, but we were different.

"No, no, no. This is not happening. Are you kids crazy? First Soldier Girl, now the boy." I saw Sazh in the corner of my vision, and he sighed while shaking his head, his chest heaving. He looked downward, forehead knitted with worry and dark eyes crinkled with disappointment, and then brought a tense hand up to his poofy afro. Sazh was always dramatic with his hands. Abruptly, he looked up with furrowed eyebrows. "Hey! Soldier Girl, don't you go now too!" Sazh shouted. I saw his green-clothed arm frantically snatch at something.

"Tch! Let me go! Hope is being delusional, but I can take care of myself fine," Light said icily, her voice a bit strained. I heard her half-growl and the noise of her struggling against Sazh's grip. I squeezed my eyes shut. I still felt like I was betraying her and that was something I just couldn't think of right then. Then there was the sound of a slap, a thud, and Snow grunting. Light must have slapped Sazh and then kicked him into Snow. I winced. That had to have hurt.

"Hey, hey, hey! Not so hard next time!" was Sazh's complaint. And then I realized something. I should be worried about myself. Having a riled-up Lightning on your tail was never a good thing. Pouring more energy into my magic, I prayed that my natural talent at it could allow me to evade her. I waited...

And then I felt her hands worm around my right ankle. I cursed myself for being ticklish. If she didn't stop moving around, I was either going to have to lose control of my magic and possibly get us both killed, or kick her off me like she did to Sazh and risk facing her wrath, a fate worse than that if we made it out alive.

I opened one eye to see Sazh struggling to keep Snow under control by locking his arms around Snow's midsection. "I promised his mother that I'd keep him safe!" he kept shouting.

Bracing myself, I looked downward as well and saw Light hanging on with a look of determination on her face. She was gritting her teeth and looked really, really, really pissed off. Not good at all. Of all people, she had never really stooped down to hitting me. I'm not really sure why, but there's almost always a first for everything.

"What the hell do you think you're _doing_, Hope? Get back here. You can't do this!" she snapped, her voice steadily rising indignantly.

Cool calmness came to me then, quelling the worry that bubbled at the sight of Light's rage. "You once told me, 'It's not a question of can or can't. There are some things in life you just do.'! Doesn't that mean anything anymore, Light? This is just one of those things I have to do! I can't let everyone protect me anymore. I'm fourteen years old, Light!"

"You're just a kid! Snow can be imbecile, but he's right; you don't need to be the hero!" Light retorted, pain briefly flashing in her cerulean eyes. Her eyes glazed over, and she seemed to pass into a different realm. "Go back, Hope," she said, her voice quieter. "You don't need to sacrifice yourself for this. If anything, let me."

I looked away, frowning as I thought about what she had told me in those tunnels under Palumpolum, and how she became Lightning. She was thinking of herself. Just how many times had she thought of me when she saw me? I wondered, but then I realized that we were close to Fang and Vanille. I let the fire die in my hands. Light let go of me, and we floated there until Fang narrowed her eyes at us.

"Have you two got some screws loose? Get away from here! Go on, now. Move it!" Then their brands started glowing white. What was happening?

Blinking, I spluttered, "What...what are you two doing? We have to stay together!" That was how our story was supposed to end, wasn't it? We weren't supposed to separate!

"You'll see, kiddo." She raised a cool, acknowledging eyebrow at me before directing herself back to her fellow Pulsian. "Vanille?"

Vanille nodded. "Ready." She spared us a look, and I noticed something different about her. Gone was her bright, sweet demeanor that I had gotten used to since the day we met. There was now a sort of rare calmness to her that had only graced her in small doses before. Now, it was showing itself, unrestrained. "Goodbye Hope. Goodbye Lightning. I'll miss you all." Her eyes shone briefly but they remained firm.

I was at a loss for words, and Light knew it. She looked away. This was...goodbye? I heard a choking noise and realized numbly that it was me. Light took the opportunity to wrap an arm around my midsection and pull me away from them, but I couldn't break my gaze from the two women from Gran Pulse. Suddenly, there was a blinding light and they were just gone. Gone into thin air. A massive, roaring and snarling beast appeared where they had just stood together, and the sheer force left us wildly shooting backwards through the night sky.

My heart stopped then and I could hardly breathe as dread filled me. With the wind ruffling my hair and clothes, my hope began to crack and reality began to settle in. Fang and Vanille were no more. Sazh and Snow were somewhere drifting, far away. And Light and I were speeding toward probable death. At least when the four of us had been holding hands, the strange force that was controlling us was leading us away from the imminent destruction. With just Lightning and me, I didn't know if we would make it. We were probably either going to crash into something or fall with the fall of Cocoon.

It just seemed so impossible that anyone could save us now. Not Snow, who was always hot-headed and trying to be the hero. Not Sazh, the warm, fatherly figure. Not even Light. What could she do? What could I do now?

Or really, what had I done?

I couldn't remember anything after that; only a vivid flash of colors and then...darkness. Complete darkness, the type that absolutely engulfed a person. That's when I became confused. We had all felt that light at the thought of the future. We had all been so _sure_, and we had fought so hard. How could we have come this far to fail? It just didn't seem right.

Where was our happy ending? More importantly...had I made the wrong choice?

...Was Light going to die today because of me?

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If you want to see this story go anywhere, please review and tell me that and/or how I'm doing! It would give me much more motivation.

Thanks for reading! Even though I still think this could be significantly better...

-That one awkward dork (Tina Li)


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